Improvement in devices for holding knit goods while being cut



v w. MARTIN. Dgvjces for Holding KnitGoods Whil Being Gut.

0154,69 1. Pat ented S ept.1,1874.

(E GRAPHIC CO. PHOYOrUTK39l4-l PARK PLACEJLY,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MARTIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEVICES FOR HOLDING KNIT GOODS WHILE BEINGCUT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,694, datedSeptember 1, 1874; application filed May 14, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, WILLIAM MARTIN, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, haveinvented an Apparatus for Facilitating the Cutting Out of tElosiery, ofwhich the following is a specifica- My invention relates to animprovement in the cutting-out boards employed in stockingfactories forstretching the knitted fabric and guiding the cutters out of the same;and the object of my invention is to insure a more uniform stretching ofthe said fabric and greater exactitude. in cutting out thestocking-blanks. The old-fashioned device for this purpose consisted ofa simple board, in which four rows of pins were arranged in aquadrangle, the space within which was studded with additional pins toserve as guides for the operators in cutting out the fabric, which waslaid on the pins in two folds. Difficulty has always been experienced instretching the fabric uniformly on these permanent pins, the loose andelastic character of the fabric being such that some of the pinspenetrated the fabricbefore others interfered with its proper stretchingover and onto the other pinsa difficulty which resulted in the puckeringofthe fabric, and which I overcome in the following manner, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 represents aperspective view of my improved cutting-out board; Figs. 2 and 3, sideviews, showing the parts of the apparatus in different positions; andFig. 4, a side view of a modification.

On the upper board A are four rows, B, B, B, and B, of pins, forming aquadrangle, within which the board has a number of holes for admitting asystem of pins on a board, D. Before the fabric is applied the upperboard is elevated so that none of the pins within the quadrangle projectabove the surface of this upper board. A portion of the knitted fabric,which may be in the condition of single or double web, is now placed onthe board between the guidingflanges a a, and forced down on the fixedpins B, B, B, and B, which, in absence of the pins E, can be readilyaccomplished without any puckering. The upper board is now lowered, sothat the pins E attached to the same will pass through the fabricwithout in any way displacing or puckering the same.

After the operators, guided by the projecting pins, have cut up thefabric into stockingblanks, the board A is elevated, and another portionof the continuous web of fabric is placed on the board and stretched onthe pins, as before, and this is continued until the whole of the webhas been cut up. When the web is of uniform width, and when thestockings are all to be cut of the same length, the four rows of pins B,B, B, and B may be secured permanently to the board A; but I prefer tomake the said rows of pins adjustable upon the board toward and fromeach other, so as to render one apparatus available for different widthsof web and different lengths of stockings.

The position of the rows of pins B B in respect to each other determinesthe length of the stockings, and the distance between the rows B Bdepends upon the width of the fabric.

, Different devices may be employed for raisin g and lowering the boardA. In the present instance there is on each edge of the said board ametal strip, J, the lower edge of which rests on the lower board, thestrip having two slots, 00w, each of which is partly inclined and partlystraight, .and receives a pin projecting from the edge of the board A,

which will be elevated on pulling both strips outward in the directionof the arrow, but lowered when the strips are pushed mward.

The apparatus may consist simply of the two boards A and D, or it may befurnished with an additional board, A, Fig. 4, precisely like the boardA, excepting that the pins are differently arranged for guiding theoperator in cutting out stocking-blanks of a different size.

I claim as my in"ention The board A, with its rows of pins B- B" B B, incombination with the board 1?, having pins E projecting through orifices1n the said board A, which can be raised and lowered, all substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM MARTIN. Witnesses:

WM. A. STEEL, HARRY SMITH.

